I was in the till, feeling sick, because the till was going in and out, in and out, for about ten minutes, until the crowds of children had dispersed to school. It was suddenly peaceful and quiet. I heard nothing until suddenly voices were raised and I could hear them moving towards the till. I listened intently but did not recognise any of the voices. I heard the cashier screaming and then the till flew open. It took me a while to focus as the till had been dark and creepy. I was grabbed by the cashier’s hand and tipped into a large, scratchy bag. If I had thought it bumpy in the till it was nothing to what I was going through now.
With the rest of the money I was suddenly flung into a car. The bag caught on the gear stick and flew open spreading me and the other loose coins on the floor. “Idiot.” A rough voice said to the guy who had thrown the bag. He never answered but clambered into the driving seat as the wheels screeched their getaway.
It was dark on the floor of the car and I kept hoping that the guy in the passenger seat wouldn’t step on me. I heard a sound getting louder and louder. I could not make it out. As it came nearer I heard it clearly, it was a police car’s siren. The car I was travelling in stopped sharply and together with the rest of the loose coins I flew forward and backwards, sliding under the rubber mat on the floor of the car. I could hear the police officers banging on the windows for the criminals to open the doors. Scuffling broke out but the criminal’s were arrested by the officers and I was sitting on the floor with the rest of the stolen money.
Everything went quiet and I realised that the police were moving off, they had missed me, I’d never get home now. I tried to yell “Hey, down here officers!” but nothing happened, and I remembered what had happened with Jimmy earlier, realising that I could no longer be heard.
It must have been just after dinner time as I felt hungry and I could hear some boys approaching the car. They were all shouting something – I could not quite make it out though. They came over and looked at the smashed car. One of the boys became curious and spotted some coins on the floor. Sliding the rubber mat forward his face lit up as he spotted me, along with the rest of the stolen coins. He was amazed and could not speak. The other boys were calling him and when he did not reply, they came to see what he was looking at.
I thought to myself “Wow, imagine if I had of just found this bag of money.” I would be very happy indeed! They carried me into a derelict building and tipped me and the rest of the money all over the floor and started to share it equally between them, grabbing huge chunks of coins each. I couldn’t quite make out faces but I recognised voices. I was grabbed by the boy who looked like the group leader, the one who was giving the orders. He shoved me into his pocket and it become dark again. I could smell an empty chocolate wrapper and became inseparable from a sucked and broken polo mint. I bounced about in his pocket, connected to the mint, as he set off running and bouncing me about in his pocket. “Back to school?” he asked his friends. “No way!” said another voice, “We’re spending this dosh first.” They all laughed and started running faster.
The bell on a shop door sounded and I jumped because the noise seemed familiar. Every school day me, Jimmy and the rest of the gang, went to the pie shop just under one hundred yards from the school, to buy our dinner. We had to sneak out as we were not allowed to leave the school grounds at dinner time. It was worth the risk though was the food at the pie shop was much better than the what they served up in the school canteen and it was cheaper and quicker, as we did not have to queue for the food. The boy handed me over to the woman at the till and I caught a glimpse of him, it was Jimmy! I was quickly put back into his pocket though and he apologized to the cashier saying “Sorry, was going to give you a pound too much.” and he left the shop with his dinner and his friends.
The rest of the day was spent in Jimmy’s pocket. Eventually the bell rang for home time. Jimmy and the rest of the gang rushed down the corridor, I recognised the sounds of the footsteps on the tiles and the familiar noises as the doors swished shut behind the gang. It was very noisy, as usual. They left school, racing out of the gates as fast as they could, it was a game we played every night, last one out was a loser. They seemed to be walking for ages and I wondered where they were going, until I heard the key being turned in a lock. I recognised the lock and as I heard the last person slamming a gate I realised that we were at my house. The gate had a certain squeak that dad was always going to oil. I hoped he wouldn’t as the sound was unique and it always reminded me that school was out for the day.
The boys had come to see why I hadn’t been at school. My mum had gone to work and wouldn’t be home until around five thirty. She always left me a key under the plant pot that held the ivy, in the front garden. The boys knew this as they had seen me use this key regularly.
They traversed up the stairs to see if I was ok. Jimmy went into my room and saw that there was no one in. He yelled to the others “He must have gone out, he wasn’t ill after all.” They all hung around in my room and I could hear them fiddling with my computer game. They seemed to be there for ages until the Star Trek clock on the wall said in an American accent “The time is four thirty p.m.” “I’ll have to go.” Said Jimmy as he pushed past to be first out of my room. One of the boys must have pushed him back because I could feel myself falling and was worried that he would fall on top of me but I slid out of his pocket and rolled into a shaded corner behind the door. No one saw me.
The room was heavy with silence as my eyes became adjusted to the light. I breathed a sigh of relief. I was back where I had started from this morning, in my bedroom with my computer and my Star Trek clock. I had been involved in so many events, I was completely exhausted and closed my eyes.
I heard a door slam down stairs and my mother shouting for me, but I couldn’t answer. She walked into my bedroom but missed me. She tidied around and I tried desperately to catch her attention but it was no good, no matter how hard I shouted, “Mum!” she just couldn’t hear. I was stuck in a nightmare. I must be!
She left to go downstairs. The night passed slowly. The boys had left the TV on so at least there was something to do, mum must have thought I was sulking somewhere because she didn’t switch the TV off. Eventually I must have drifted back to sleep. I could feel my eyes getting heavier and I couldn’t strain them any longer to watch TV.
It was such a relief when I awoke the next morning and shouted as loud as I could “Wow - What a dream I had”. I stretched and yawned, loving the way the sun shone through the window. I couldn’t wait to switch on the computer. I looked up at my clock and it was half past seven. “Hmm...” I thought to myself, I must be first up and as I began to stand up I was looking forward to a normal day at school with my friends. I would tell Jimmy and the gang what had happened. They’d think I’d gone mad. A chill ran through me as I realised that my feet wouldn’t lift my body. I couldn’t stand. I tried yelling. No one answered. I hadn’t been dreaming...
